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Chemistry Hero
Location: Durham, North Carolina Date: January 31, 1989 Story On the morning of January 31, 1989, Durham High School's new math/science building opened for the first time as the principal, Barbara Ellis, and her staff were in a meeting regarding future planning shortly before school started. In the chemistry lab, construction workers had carelessly dumped all of the chemicals together into trash cans, so 57-year-old teacher Sury Chittilla asked five of his honors students to help him put them in the correct places. Student Matt Cook noted that the chemicals were not in good condition, with some not labeled or covered, so they were not entirely sure of what they were dealing with. The chemicals were very corroded so they needed to be washed and cleaned before being put back on their shelves. Sury warned the students that the chemicals were potentially dangerous and to use extreme caution as they figured out what each one was. One student was washing his hands and accidentally splashed some water into a beaker, which began smoking. Without warning, Sury rushed it out of his classroom. Matt and his fellow students thought it might have been a joke, not fully understanding what was happening. Sury knew that the beaker contained sodium metal, a very volatile substance with the tendency to react violently when put into contact with air or water, so he rushed to get it outside as quickly as possible to try and avoid an explosion, since hundreds of students and teachers were at risk. At this time, classes had begun throughout the building. The substance was spilling out of the beaker as Sury raced to get it outside. But just as he reached the door, it exploded in his face. Biology teacher Mary Young heard the explosion from her classroom and rushed to help. Sury yelled to her that he had lost his sight. She put her arms around him, brought him into her classroom, and told him he had not done so permanently. Mary brought Sury to the eyewash station in the back of her classroom and held his head over it. No one was sure exactly what had happened, but one of Mary's students ran to the main office to call for help. Meanwhile, as Mary was washing Sury's eyes, she was afraid he might not get his sight back due to the fact that his eyes were discolored. Upon being notified of the accident, the secretary called 911. It was obvious to the dispatcher that she was confused and was giving secondhand information, so an ambulance was immediately dispatched, having been told that it was a toxic accident and nothing else. Toxic fumes filling the front entrance of the math/science building were forcing all of the classes to evacuate, which took a considerable amount of time due to the number of students in the building. To most of them, the evacuation seemed like a normal fire drill, so there was a lot of talking, playing around, and joking, and not a lot of chaos. As the ambulance arrived, the whole field went silent, knowing something had obviously gone wrong. Mary washed Sury's eyes until the paramedics arrived, trying not to show her emotions, but she was as frustrated and anxious as he was. Five minutes after the explosion, paramedic Robert Lucas and his partner arrived at the scene. No one was able to tell them exactly what had happened, so the paramedics assumed that the chemical was some kind of acid or alkaline and removed Sury's clothes to prevent any chemicals still on them from burning into his skin. When the paramedics opened Sury's eyes to begin the irrigation, they had a gray, crinkly, bloodshot appearance. The only thing they could do was irrigate as much of the chemicals as possible out of his eyes, but Robert did not believe deep down that Sury would ever see again. Mrs. Ellis was frightened thinking about what could have happened. If Sury had not reacted so quickly and the beaker exploded in the lab, there would have been a tremendous chain reaction, and possibly multiple lives lost. As the students saw Sury being wheeled out into the ambulance, it hit each of them hard, and they were having a hard time believing what had happened. He was obviously in a lot of pain and Matt wanted to thank him for saving his and his schoolmates' lives, which was very emotional for him. Mary was also treated for burns she had suffered from the chemicals while washing Sury's eyes out. Less than a year later, Sury's sight had nearly returned completely. His own quick thinking may have saved many lives, but it was Mary's prompt action that saved his sight. "The one thing I learned out of this accident is how many people come forward, and are so friendly and helpful to me," said Sury. "I never estimated that I had so many friends who are inquisitive about my welfare and safety. That is the greatest pleasure". "It indeed takes a very special person to place the lives of others before your very own," said Mrs. Ellis. "And that's what happened on January 31. Mr. Chittilla never once thought about himself. The only thing he thought about was the safety and welfare of his students and his colleagues. And for that, we will always be grateful." Category:1989 Category:North Carolina Category:Explosions Category:School